Rational Middle Energy Serieshttp://rationalmiddle.com
Watch the videos. Join the discussion. Create the energy future.Tue, 07 Jun 2016 18:50:47 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.1Updating the Rational Middle in 2016http://rationalmiddle.com/updating-the-rational-middle-in-2016/
http://rationalmiddle.com/updating-the-rational-middle-in-2016/#respondTue, 07 Jun 2016 18:47:18 +0000http://rationalmiddle.com/?p=894(more)]]>As we say, energy is complicated. It’s ever-changing and often shifts dramatically directly beneath your feet. In light of recent events and the constant evolution of the discussion around energy and its impact on our environment and our civilization, the Rational Middle has seen fit to update two episodes at the center of this discussion.

What’s at Stake and The Great Transition are two of our most popular episodes that focus on the larger picture surrounding energy issues. Since their original release in 2012, they have garnered hundreds of thousands of views across multiple platforms and continue to provide base knowledge which lays the foundation for a fact-based discussion.

We dove back into these pieces and broke them down into sections which we felt best represented areas that needed attention: New numbers, updated graphics, important perspectives on world events, and more. We conducted two brand new interviews with Dr. Kenneth Medlock, the Energy and Resource Economics at the Baker Institute, as well as Dr. Michelle Michot Foss with the Center for Energy Economics at University of Texas.

As a result of the update, these episodes feel brand new once more, and the message is refreshed for new viewers who may just be joining the Rational Middle discussion. However, despite the need to update the episodes, much of the content remains unchanged. Unfortunately, not enough has been done to move the needle on energy and climate change, and that fact is painfully clear when we watch these episodes compared to their original cuts. We must all understand the challenges that lay before us and do what we must in order to secure not only the future habitability of our planet, but to grow as a civilization to a place where we can more responsibly manage our impacts on our home and each other.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who gets mad when I’m watching the presidential debates. The candidates’ puerile anger and teenager-style bickering can be maddening (though, admittedly, highly entertaining). But while most of my friends seem to be angry because their candidate is getting attacked or the views of an opposing candidate seem to be a personal affront, my ire comes from a different place. My disdain for these events and, heck, the entire election this year is that the polarization of these candidates (even within their own parties) has proved out the fact the polarization breeds stasis and stasis makes it impossible to create and progress towards a productive dialogue and, ultimately, a solution to a problem.

In recent Republican and Democratic debates, I was astounded to hear how much time was spent determining which candidates were more “progressive” (for the Democrats) or who was the “true conservative” (on the Republican side). Instead of talking about issues and how one would lead, the candidates argued on and one about how their “progressiveness” or their “conservatism” made them more valid. It was somewhat sickening to see how much time they wasted framing every issue from one side of the ideological barricade or the other.

The Rational Middle has always stood by the fact that we need to move past our differences, sit at the table and work on real solutions. These solutions aren’t always easy to come by and often include compromise. We’ve seen advocates from extreme sides of an issue come together and start a process that has, ultimately, lead to solving a problem. I know that the Rational Middle isn’t always a comfortable place. I’m sure it must be easier to stand in a place where everyone only sees one side of the issue, and is unmoving in their mindset. The issue is that the taking this position paralyzes the process of solving a challenge. These debates have proven the point by these candidates essentially repeating their attacks on one another debate after debate — stuck in their own feedback loop and myopic rhetoric.

In the end, what I want to hear is how these candidates are going to change things and make things better. I am deeply interested in how our next president is going to create a comprehensive energy plan (one that’s sustainable, affordable and environmentally sensitive). Aside from energy, I want to hear how they have the ability to create a Rational Middle around healthcare, gun control, education and finance reform. I’m tired of the bickering and the name-calling and grandstanding. What I want is for a candidate to separate themselves, show they can come to the middle ground, include all of us and build a great nation.

The world of energy is abuzz with the news from the Paris climate talks. The national representatives are patting themselves on the back. The environmental groups are cautiously optimistic. The energy innovators are chomping at the bit. And the climate deniers are wringing their hands because, well, they’re still in denial.

But, in the end what does this all mean? Have we solved the climate change issue? Can this group walk away and think to themselves that they’ve cured all of our problems? If we all follow this agreement to the letter, could this stop all the current and impending damage of climate change? The unfortunate answer is “no” with a big “BUT.”

The Paris Climate Agreement is an amazing achievement. Energy and environmental experts from all over the globe have come together and discussed and executed on a proposal that will, hopefully, help mitigate the damages from the warming of the earth. As most people know, this agreement is primarily based off of major carbon producers like the United States and China cutting emissions. Also, as a part of the agreement, First World nations like the U.S., EU and China would help developing nations create cleaner sources of energy. At face value, this is an amazing way to go. If this works out, this agreement has created a timeline to reduce emissions, create a major impetus/catalyst for energy innovation and formed up a unified front to a dire issue.

All that said, we have not solved the issue. Now is when the hard part actually starts. These global leaders now must go back to their countries and their divided governments (yes, that’s you too President Obama) and try to convince them to enact legislation, provide funding for energy in developing nations and to set a regulatory path that incentivizes technological innovation. If we do all of this, we could possibly start to create a culture that is more aware and focused on mitigating climate change. With a culture in place, we can maybe start to move the needle to slow the impending damage and even stop some of the more dire predictions.

In the end, the Paris Climate summit was an amazing achievement that the attendees should truly be proud of. That said, it is now that the hard work begins. If we can execute this plan as it’s written and all nations honor this agreement, then, and only then, will Paris be a true and real success.

]]>http://rationalmiddle.com/will-the-paris-climate-summit-save-the-world/feed/0Working Together: Cogeneration’s Benefit to the Energy Transition and Beyondhttp://rationalmiddle.com/working-together-cogenerations-benefit-to-the-energy-transition-and-beyond/
http://rationalmiddle.com/working-together-cogenerations-benefit-to-the-energy-transition-and-beyond/#respondWed, 11 Nov 2015 16:57:56 +0000http://rationalmiddle.com/?p=664(more)]]>One of the biggest myths in renewable technology in my mind, aside from the “free lunch” concept, is that we can or should switch to 100% renewables right away. Yes, we all want the future to get here pronto, but the more anyone looks at the proposition of the mythical overnight switch can see that we’re looking toward at least a few decades of transition. You can’t take people’s cars away, you can’t force everyone to switch their gas stoves and heating tomorrow, and you can’t ask companies to scrap billions in invested infrastructure without causing a massive economic impact.

Wind and solar co-located on the same land.

We won’t dispute the idea that renewables are the future, because they are. We won’t take umbrage with the concept that we can do more today, because we can. What we need to do is look at a transition that is not only fast moving, efficient, and truly sustainable, but also practical and affordable.

With the threat of continued devastation, cultural and economic upheaval from climate change and a growing, and rightfully energy-hungry, middle class around the world, the threat we face is enormous. Finding a solution and implementing it, in my opinion, should the primary focus of society. Even if our focus was set on moving to a cleaner future, the transition will be messy. People will bicker and disagree or worse. But, as a part of the Rational Middle way of thinking, we need to move beyond and find a path together.

There is a transition that needs to take place. And as experts we interviewed said again and again, it will take time. Not just to source, transport, construct, test, and integrate new resources onto the grid, but to let our old infrastructure phase out. Asking companies and municipalities to do away with billions upon billions of dollars worth of infrastructure would create undue burden on John Q. Taxpayer and on the average citizen’s utility bill. The future of energy will cost money to transition to, but without some massive government support, the cost of a purely public transition will be passed on wholly the consumer in a very short timeframe. It’s a conundrum, but it’s not without its path of least resistance.

Indeed, the transition will take time to construct, even with a mighty workforce, and a few decades time is all the time we need to implement not only the practical resources, but the legislative and regulatory bodies to ensure success. During this time, people will still need power, and there will still be old coal, oil, and gas infrastructure in place to service those needs, as dirty as they are. But who says that fossil and renewable power can’t work together in the meantime? Why set aside advantages that could be taken in the current system to boost renewable generation while phasing out fossils?

One such partnership is cogeneration. Cogen is a really interesting tool especially for those that have the domestic resources to do so – as North America and many other places around the world do. The concept is to generate electricity from two resources and/or increase the efficiency of the land and the resources available to reduce the amount of carbon-intensive resources necessary to create the same amount of energy. For example, a traditional steam generator, like a coal plant, could use solar thermal energy to not only create electricity, but to passively pre-heat water going into the coal turbine to reduce the amount of coal needed to create steam. This concept can work for any traditional steam-driven technology. Sounds great, right?

John Sevier Combined Cycle Plant, Tennessee Valley Authority

Fortunately for research and development timelines, this idea is not new. Natural gas plants have been co-generating with combined cycle plants for years – using not only the energy created by the turning of a gas-fired turbine, but collecting the waste heat to boil water and turn another turbine has shown substantial efficiency gains per unit of gas used. It’s a way of thinking on which we are terribly behind when it comes to implementation.

Another example of dual resource use to complement would be siting fuel cells with renewables which would be able to kick in when the sun doesn’t shine or wind doesn’t blow. In fact, Apple is already doing this with their latest data centers which are almost completely powered by renewables. We could also use solar to turn methane into syngas, a more efficient, and thus less-polluting fuel – a technology that is still in development. Renewable operators can co-locate solar and wind into one farm, creating a symbiotic use of the infrastructure (roads, power lines, etc) because wind blows more at night when the sun is gone. The same concept could be applied to a home which would use heat from the earth beneath the house to keep the temperature inside a home a near constant, reducing the need for heating or air conditioning. The list goes on.

This way of thinking, combining industries and concepts to make our electricity generation more efficient and effective, has to be an option people become aware of and are incentivized to use as a tool in the kit of the energy future. In stocks, traders like to diversify their portfolio to reduce risk, and the same ideas must make their way into how society plans for and consumes energy.

So too, I think, we should encourage cogeneration and support new ideas by considering the resources of an area and implementing what’s best for local needs. We have to stop thinking about energy in silos of resources instead and create new innovation through new ways of thinking.

Sometimes I forget the power of the Rational Middle. Sometimes I forget the good it can do, and the idea that the Rational Middle can be the tip of the spear in creating the energy future. This week, I was reminded of those facts. I was also reminded that there are others out there who, like us, are laser-focused on having civil, solutions-based discussions about some of the globe’s toughest issues.

This week, I went on a whirlwind tour of two amazing World Affairs Council groups. The groups were in Charlotte, North Carolina and Philedelphia, Pennsylvania. The packed-house events featured the showing of “What’s at Stake”(http://bit.ly/1sIyaau) and “The Great Transition” (http://bit.ly/1oSMhoK) These two films are meant to be big, heady pieces and are designed to lead the crowd into deep thought and fruitful conversation about the energy future.

While I’m certainly used to lively discourse coming from these films, I was astounded at how these two crowds started immediately working on the energy future and, in merely 90-minutes, started to work on possible solutions.

In Philedelphia, the crowd and the panel started explore some of the immediate fixes to get us moving down a more efficient energy path. One of the panel members was Adam Agalloco from the city’s sustainability office, and he chatted about the strides we could make in making buildings more efficient. The panel and audience followed suit by talking about how efficiency could be paired with mixing up energy sources to provide the first steps towards a clean energy future.

In Charlotte, we talked more about the different energy sources that exist and how to implement these sources in a logical, environmentally responsible way. While the primary discussion was focused on de-carbonization, we focused ourselves on providing an energy future that is affordable, sustainable and environmentally sound. We also focused part of our conversation on nuclear energy as a clean energy source (an energy source we have yet to look at in the Rational Middle Energy Series).

This summer, we will be touring the Rational Middle to other World Affairs Councils around the United States. I, for one, can’t wait to interface more with this amazing group. More importantly, I look forward to working with the World Affairs Council on the bigger issue of creating the energy future. If this initial small sampling is any indication of the progress we can make, the Rational Middle and the World Affairs Council will make an amazing team.

]]>http://rationalmiddle.com/the-world-affairs-council-is-the-rational-middle/feed/0Could Elon Musk Disrupt the Power Grid?http://rationalmiddle.com/could-elon-musk-disrupt-the-power-grid/
http://rationalmiddle.com/could-elon-musk-disrupt-the-power-grid/#respondSat, 09 May 2015 12:40:26 +0000http://rationalmiddle.com/?p=856(more)]]>Did you see Elon Musk announce his new lithium ion battery system for the home? Did you hear about it? If the answer is “no”, then you missed moment that could possibly go down in history as the moment that changed the way we think about energy and the way we generate and store our energy.

A link to the Tesla Powerwall unveiling: http://goo.gl/Cd2p4r

At the Rational Middle, we strive to strike the balance in the conversation about energy and to bring both sides of a discussion to our audiences so they can weigh the costs/benefits on energy issues. When we went out to film our episode on renewables, the issue that kept coming up as the gating factor of them becoming a predominant energy source was power storage. In fact, one of our experts from the National Renewable Energy Lab actually called energy storage the “Holy Grail”.

A link to our “Future of Renewables” can be found HERE: http://bit.ly/1pTVhJl

Elon Musk focused a large part of his talk on the idea that his battery backup system was for the home. The Powerwall is meant to be a backup system for a home’s solar panels storing unused power generated while the sun is shining. In essence, this could encourage more people to create a “distributed” network of power where each home was its own mini-power plant. While a distributed power system isn’t new, the idea of a home having it’s own power storage system is incredibly novel. Imagine a world where our homes and the sun generate the majority of our energy.

If Elon Musk’s vision comes to fruition and works as well as he says it will, then the Powerwall could be a game changer in a massive way, and finally help us transform and evolve our aging energy grid. As we look back on this Musk’s announcement, could this have been be that vital first essential step that we all need to take if we are truly going to start moving down the path to a clean energy future?

]]>http://rationalmiddle.com/could-elon-musk-disrupt-the-power-grid/feed/0The Reinvention of Detroit as an Energy Cityhttp://rationalmiddle.com/the-reinvention-of-detroit-as-an-energy-city/
http://rationalmiddle.com/the-reinvention-of-detroit-as-an-energy-city/#respondFri, 24 Apr 2015 03:19:13 +0000http://rationalmiddle.com/?p=848(more)]]>It’s been a couple of weeks since I was in Detroit for the Powering Progress Together and Eco Marathon events, and it’s interesting to think back on my impressions of the city. My first impression was that the city’s current state is pretty depressing. This comes, in part, with my new understanding of how the city was once considered one of the world’s grandest and most innovative metropolises, but now the city was a shadow of its former glorious self.

But there is another way to look at this city. After spending a couple of weeks away from Detroit, my thoughts changed from being depressed about the city to being hopeful and excited about the city’s future prospects. This is due to the fact that this city is being forced to reinvent itself as a 21st century city. They are able to reimagine and execute their open spaces and explore different ways to use their existing architecture.

Above all that, the most exciting part of Detroit forced reinvention of itself is the idea that it can rethink the way the city creates and uses energy. To me, the possibilities are endless. You can start with rooftop solar and creating more efficient buildings. Both of these initiatives are low hanging fruit and should be fairly easy to implement.

The real innovation can occur when you look at the transportation system and how you rebuild it. Beyond the light rail system they have, the group of innovators at Powering Progress Together discussed everything from adding bike lanes to laying down special road material that actually captured energy from the friction of movement on top of it. Pretty amazing stuff.

In the end, Detroit is definitely the tale of two cities. Through on lens, Detroit is probably the largest urban failure this country has ever seen. But through the other lens, this city could be the shining model of the new metropolis, and show us all how cities grow and thrive and, most of all, how the new American urban landscape helps lead us in the creation of the clean energy future.

The winner of the 1st Annual Rational Middle “My energy future is…” video challenge (and the winner of a brand new iPad Mini) is Katelyn Rose! Katelyn is from the EcoMarathon team Shop Girls from Granite Falls, Washington.

Katelyn was one of many people who made a video that began “My energy future is…” Her video was great and her message is about doing the small and large things to help ensure a clean energy future.

Beyond Katelyn, we’re very proud of all the folks out there who made videos and spread them amongst their friends and family. In just two days, the group of videos were seen thousands of times and helped spread the message of a clean energy future.

At Rational Middle, it’s important to us that young people get informed about energy and start to create the energy future. The good news is that people like Katelyn (and everyone else who participated) seem incredibly smart and engaged in this endeavor, and we look forward to these young men and women taking the helm and steering us towards a glorious future.

I’m not sure that I knew what I had sign up for when I agreed to show a Rational Middle film at the Eco-Marathon in Detroit. To me and Team Rational Middle, we get asked to do events all the time, so this event took its place alongside all the others. We knew it would be fun, we knew we would have an engaged and energized (pun intended) conversation, but I had no idea of the awesomeness I was about to experience.

The Shell Eco-Marathon is a global competition where kids (high school and college) design, create and drive cars. Winners are determined by who can make their vehicle go the farthest on the least amount of energy. While that is cool in itself, it’s only a part of what makes this event so amazing.

What astounded me about the Eco-Marathon is embodied in the participants. These kids are some of the smartest, most engaged I’ve ever experienced. Not only are they engaged in their vehicles, they all seem to be acutely aware of energy, the impending energy future and their potential role in helping to manifest the energy future.

I know I’ve been known to whine about millennials and their lack of focus. I know I’ve said that I wasn’t fully confident in the next wave leadership and their ability to create the path to the energy future. All that said, and being privileged enough to to be here and show my films, I have to take it all back. The groups here are engaged, curious and smart. Eco-Marathon has made me a believer in this next group of young adults and a huge believer in our ability to create and execute the clean energy future.

As a kid, I loved dinosaurs, I loved space, and trains. My entire life revolved around these very different hobbies during my formative years. Soon, space became the focus of all my attention. I watched movies like Apollo 13, 2001, and Star Wars, among others. I watched documentaries like From the Earth to the Moon and For All Mankind. As I entered my teens, I found the famous Carl Sagan epic COSMOS: A Personal Voyage. My mind becamean amalgamation of what was, what is, and what could be.

Today, I continue to soak up the massive amounts of amazing content being created – In the Shadow of the Moon, When We Left Earth, Hubble IMAX 3D. Recently I’ve been watching the continuation/revamp of the Sagan saga: COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey featuring Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson. But something happened many months before this new iteration aired that really boggled my mind. Producer and world-renowned, unabashed comedy-mogul Seth MacFarlane had joined the project. After hearing the news, I asked myself what could possibly interest a crude, in-your-face producer like him to participate in the show. It turns out that MacFarlane is a huge fan of science. When I look back on his work – Family Guy and others – he spends a fair amount of time bashing religious dogma and bringing science (albeit part science-fiction and part pseudo science) into the picture – often being the main plot device and saving the day. And now FOX is carrying the most progressive programming on television, while Discovery Channel, History, and others have moved to mind-numbing reality shows.

When I was approached to work on the Rational Middle by director Gregory Kallenberg, I felt, in my own small way, a bit like the creative team behind COSMOS. Here we were with a monumental challenge of helping people understand massively complex and dire energy issues, making it free to access for anyone in the world with open digital downloads, fact sheets, accessible graphics and more, all while not putting them down or putting them to sleep. As a tiny, practically unheard of four-person team from Shreveport, Louisiana, we were the Little Engine that Could – hoping to spread truth and inspire awe to incite change and generate interest in problems our world faces today. This presented a really interesting set of hurdles that we had only just begun to address in our previous documentary effort Haynesville, a project we practically stumbled on by accident.

Me filming in Washington, D.C. for the Rational Middle Season 2.

When we began to work on the Rational Middle, we decided very consciously to not take the approach some other energy documentaries had – bringing one voice to the table to authoritatively dictate what is and is not fact. Instead, we opted to interview experts and let them tell the story themselves. And not just a handful, but scores of experts with experience in experiments, studies, and projects around the world. The people who are actually making the discoveries, and quite literally writing the books on modern energy from economics to real-world applications and technology development. And these weren’t just experts who all believed in the same things, but real people who understand the practicalitybehind achieving whatever path we choose. The Rational Middle isn’t about defining a path, it’s about breaking down barriers – mythbusting in a way – so that the complexity of the economics, the manpower, and the scale of the undertaking moving to the cleaner energy future comes into focus.

As we began fleshing out this idea of the energy future, something occurred to me that harkened back to my childhood: As amazing as the possibilities for the future are – the cool tech, next-gen societal structures, and new ideas or the exploration of the cosmos – we won’t be able to do any of it so long as we are fighting another battle against pollution, resource depletion, and inefficiency. That barrier to entry is what drives me personally to participate in the Rational Middle. I want the future. I want the next great thing. I want to explore the final frontier and go where no man has gone before. But first, we must join the ranks of those working to move people to a place of wonder and excitement about a future, encouraging self-discovery and education where informed decisions can be made, not the place where people simply repeat what they are told. Not the place where oversimplification and shortcuts are used to discuss complex issues. I believe people are much smarter than that – a sentiment I found I share with those in the energy and environmental communities.

The graphics and animation team behind the Rational Middle Energy Series meets with creator Gregory Kallenberg.

With all of that in mind, I’m here to tell you that there has been an unspoken path we’ve taken with the Rational Middle Energy Series thus far. A plan to provide the integral parts, if not a complete view, of the problems and solutions regarding our energy future. Season 1 was about establishing a narrative – to focus on the problems that should be in the public eye. The things that have kept me up at night and continue to keep us deadlocked on a path to the energy future. Even the episodes on natural gas – all of which have been labeled by viewers both promoting big energy or “pro-fracking” by environmentalists and then greenwashing by oil and gas supporters all at once – the goal was to take confusion about resources and the challenges we face and present them in a new light. Some of the episodes were introductory, some were resource-specific. Another focuses on personal perspective. The last episode of Season 1, The Great Transition, focused on moving forward and the challenges that face us in the future, rather than the ones already on our plate. This would provide a jumping off point for Season 2.

The second season, which began production almost immediately after the first, was to focus on the problems we are facing tomorrow – transportation, urban development, efficiency, new technologies, the grid, and beyond. Things we should already be working on, but which haven’t found a voice. Perhaps they are perceived too complex, or maybe they insinuate ripping up existing infrastructure and replacing it outright. It’s a scary thought, especially coming out of a recession. We also wanted to expand the visibility of personal stories and community issues to reveal the tangled web of the energy system – who is affected and what forces are at work. All of the episodes released to date purposely provide a view of the complexity of the problem we face without providing answers. The Rational Middle, thus far, hasn’t been a center for solutions, but a roundtable of perspectives which we hope will lead to an honest discussion about the future of the human race.

Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant, Tennessee Valley Authority

We hope that in our next season we can focus on even more issues, but to begin honing in on what an energy future could look like by exploring the options available to us and laying them out on the table. There are energy sources and technologies we have yet to discuss. Some we are still struggling to figure out how to tackle, and some are only just moving into a place where we can talk about them with any completeness – like new nuclear designs. We want to talk about solutions that can work in many corners of the earth, focusing on diversification with the idea that not all resources are best suited for all locations. We want to show more about energy efficiency in the home and discuss possible solutions to the stress nexus (food, water, and energy) that was presented as a problem in one of our first episodes, What’s at Stake. It would even be a dream of ours to do a forward-thinking cousin to our “Day in the Life of Energy” episodes where we follow a family of the future in their intelligent and efficient home, their work patterns, their mobility – looking at how things could be if we begin working to solve the problems we have presented over the last two years.

At the end of the day, there is still so much to explore and only so much time to inspire the world to begin aggressively working on the future. We can talk about and document everything in the world, but unless this information is shared, unless it inspires us to move forward, and do so quickly, we may not have the opportunity to enjoy it.